Guest Author - Connie Krochmal
Each year lots of new plants are introduced to the marketplace. For 2004 we will see numerous new varieties of succulents. Among the new ones are some exciting portulacas and kalanchoes.
Several new portulacas or moss rose will be available in retail outlets. For 2004, Sakata Seed, a wholesale company, released the new Sunseeker series. These plants will bloom earlier than the other varieties on the market. They should be flowering by mid March or so. They aren’t as fast growing as some others.
If you buy them in plastic packs as bedding plants, they should be easy to transplant to the garden. This is one of the features the plant breeders were selecting for when they created Sunseeker. The plants aren’t too hard to separate, while some other Portulacas may be so fast growing that the delicate stems will become matted together and difficult to pull apart without hurting the plants. ‘Sunseeker’ features completely double, 2-inch wide blooms that will remain open all day from morning well until the sunset. The series includes six colors. These are white, cream, pink, yellow, orange, and red.
Also new for 2004 is ‘High Noon Rose’ Portulaca. This was introduced by Bodger Botanicals, a wholesale company. This plant has stunning blooms. The plants are especially free flowering. They can be up to ½ foot in height.
As with all other Portulacas, these do best in full sun.
Two new colors of ‘High Noon’ Portulaca were introduced by Bodger Seed/Botanicals.
From PanAmerican Seed Company comes ‘Scarlet’ Portulaca, a new addition to the Margarita series.
When you go shopping for Kalanchoes, you’ll find a number of new varieties available for 2004. These include the ‘Calandiva’ series. They are cultivars of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana. These multiflowered plants feature very full, supersize, double flower heads. The individual blooms are rose-shaped with numerous layers of petals.
‘Calandiva’ is quite striking even when the flowers aren’t completely open. They will bloom for six weeks or more. So you get a lot of bang for your buck when you buy these as container plants. ‘Calandiva’ comes in various flower colors. These include white, purple, orange, pink, and a bicolor featuring white and pink.
Though all the 'Calandiva' series are exceptional plants, 'Calandiva Pink' was singled out to receive a special award. This is a FloraStar winner. Each year FloraStar trials all the new pot plants, and this one came out tops. In choosing 'Calandiva Pink,' the judges comments included the following: "truly unique," doubleness is impressive," and "looked better longer because of tighter habit." You couldn't choose a better container plant than 'Calandiva Pink.'
Look for these new succulent plants at your usual sources online and at local garden centers and nurseries.
